Ask a registered agent what keeps them up at night and the answer is rarely a hard case. It is the easy one where a date slid past: a request that sat in an ImmiAccount inbox, an English result that expired two weeks before lodgement, a bridging visa nobody looked at after the refusal.

The Code of Conduct treats this as a professional duty, not bad luck. Section 33 says an agent must:

  • respond to the client in a timely manner (33(c));
  • be aware of the times by which any relevant application must be made, any response given, or any other thing done (33(d)); and
  • have regard to the consequences of missing them (33(e)).

In OMARA’s latest activity report, one of the three cautions issued between July and December 2025 cites exactly 33(d) and (e). Another cites a failure to submit documentation by statutory deadlines. We walk through the rest of that report in what OMARA sanctioned in late 2025.

The dates that cause the damage

Most matters carry more dates than the lodgement date. Grouped by where they come from:

Where the date comes from Examples When you learn it
The client’s current status Current visa expiry, bridging visa conditions, section 48 bar At the first consultation
Evidence you rely on English test, skills assessment, health examination, police certificate When the document arrives
Invitations and nominations State nomination invitation, employer nomination validity When it is approved
The Department Request for information, natural justice letter When the letter lands, often without warning
Decisions Review application window after a refusal, next-stage eligibility after a grant On the decision date
The student side CoE end date, course progress At enrolment

The first two rows are the ones that catch people out. They are known on day one, so nobody treats them as urgent, and they expire while attention is on the Department.

Requests for information are the sharpest edge

A request for more information arrives with its own response date. If nothing comes in by then, the Department can decide on what it already holds. An extension has to be asked for through ImmiAccount before the date passes, with evidence of what the client has tried.

For a solo agent this is the dangerous case because it is unscheduled. It arrives on a Tuesday while you are in a consultation, and the response depends on the client, who is slow. The fix is boring: the date goes on the matter the same hour the letter is read, and a reminder is set for the halfway point to chase the client.

Why a calendar is not enough

Most agents start with a calendar, and most calendars fail in the same three ways.

  1. The date lives apart from the file. Opening the matter does not show you its next deadline, so you only see the date when the calendar decides to show it.
  2. Nobody owns it. In an agency, a shared calendar entry belongs to everyone, which means no one. When a staff member leaves, their dates leave with them.
  3. There is no escalation. A missed reminder just disappears. Nothing tells the principal that a date went past.

A spreadsheet fixes the first problem and makes the other two worse.

A tracking system you can keep

Whatever you use, the system should do five things.

  1. Record dates at intake. The client’s visa expiry and any bars go on the file at the first consultation.
  2. Record evidence dates when the document arrives, from the document itself, not from memory of how long that kind of document usually lasts.
  3. Create follow-on dates from status changes. When you lodge, a follow-up date appears. When a refusal arrives, the review window appears. You should not have to remember to create them.
  4. Remind before, not on. Two reminders: one far enough out to chase the client, one close enough to act.
  5. Escalate what is overdue to someone who did not miss it.

How Centrio does it

We build Centrio, so here is exactly what it does and where it stops.

  • Status-driven deadlines. Marking a matter lodged, granted or refused creates the follow-on deadlines from a rule list: a processing follow-up after lodgement, review options and the review window after a refusal, and next-stage eligibility dates after certain grants. They are not duplicated if the status changes twice.
  • Evidence expiry from the document. Upload an English result, skills assessment, health examination or police certificate and Centrio reads the issue or expiry date and proposes a deadline. A date printed on the document is used ahead of a calculated one.
  • Dates that arrive by letter. Log a request for information or a natural justice invitation on the matter and Centrio creates the response date, plus a reminder at the halfway point to chase the client for documents.
  • Status dates. Bridging visa expiry and passport expiry are tracked on the client, with reminders before each.
  • Reminders. Each user chooses in-app, email or both for each kind of reminder, with two lead times. A daily digest shows everything due in the next 14 days. Anything still overdue after three days is escalated to the account owner.
  • Client chasing. The client portal shows the client their checklist, and stage changes can send them an SMS or email so they know what is needed.

What it does not do is read your ImmiAccount inbox. A letter has to be logged when it arrives, which is why the habit of logging it the same hour still matters.

Start with the matters you already have

Open every active matter and write one line: the next date on it and what it is. If you cannot fill the line for a matter in under a minute, that matter is the risk. Then decide where those lines will live so you never have to do this exercise again.

Centrio’s Solo plan is free for one agent with up to 10 clients, which is enough to run your live matters through it and see what turns up.

This is general information, not migration or legal advice. Validity periods and response times vary by document, subclass and letter. Always work from the date on the document or notice itself.

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